THE 


CONSTITUTION 


AMERICAN     ANTI-SLAVERY     SOCIETY 


WITH 

THE    DECLARATION 

OP    THE 

NATIONAL    ANTI-SLAVERY    CONVENTION 
AT   PHILADELPHIA,    DECEMBER,    1833, 

AND 

THE    ADDRESS    TO    THE    PUBLIC, 

ISSUED    BY    THE    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE    OF    THK    SOCIKTT, 
IW    SEPTEMBER,    1835. 


"We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  rnen  are  created  equal 
that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  LIBERTY,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." — Declaration 
of  American  Independence. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY, 

143    NASSAU  STREET, 

1838. 


THE  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  formed  by  a  Convention  of 
citizens,  convened  by  public  notice,  from  ten  different  states,  at  Phi- 
ladelphia, on  the  4th  of  December,  1833.  The  Constitution  of  the 
Society,  as  then  adopted,  with  some  trifling  amendments,  is  here 
presented.  Also  the  Declaration  of  Sentiments,  which  was  agreed 
upon  and  signed  by  that  Convention.  To  these  are  added,  an  Ad- 
dress to  the  Public,  issued  by  the  Executive  Committee,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1835.  These  important  official  documents  should  be  fully 
examined  by  all  who  wish  to  know  what  are  the  principles  and 
plans  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society. 


6 


CONSTITUTION 

OF   TUB 

AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY. 

PREAMBLE 

WHEREAS  the  Most  High  God  "hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,"  and  hath  commanded 
them  to  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves ;  and  whereas  our  national 
existence  is  based  upon  this  principle,  as  recognized  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  "that  all  men  are  created  eoual,  and  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;"  and  whereas,  after  the 
lapse  of  nearly  sixty  years,  since  the  faith  and  honor  of  the  American 
people  were  pledged  to  this  avowal,  before  Almighty  God,  and  the 
world,  nearly  one-sixth  part  of  the  nation  are  held  in  bondage  by  their 
fellow-citizens  ;  and  whereas  slavery  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
natural  justice,  of  our  republican  form  of  government,  and  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  is  destructive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 
while  it  is  endangering  the  peace,  union  and  liberties  of  the  States ; 
and  whereas  we  believe  it  the  duty  and  interest  of  the  masters,  imme- 
diately to  emancipate  their  slaves,  and  that  no  scheme  of  expatriation, 
either  voluntary  or  by  compulsion,  can  remove  this  great  and  increas- 
ing evil ;  and  whereas  we  believe  that  it  is  practicable,  by  appeals  to 
the  consciences,  hearts,  and  interests  of  the  people,  to  awaken  a  public 
sentiment  throughout  the  nation,  that  will  be  opposed  to  the  continu- 
ance of  slavery  in  any  part  of  the  republic,  and  by  effecting  the  speedy 
abolition  of  slavery,  prevent  a  general  convulsion ;  and  whereas  we 
believe  we  owe  it  to  the  oppressed,  to  our  fellow-citizens  who  hold 
slaves,  to  our  whole  country,  to  posterity,  and  to  God,  to  do  all  that  is 
lawfully  in  our  power  to  bring  about  the  extinction  of  slavery,  we  do 
hereby  agree,  with  a  prayerful  reliance  on  the  Divine  aid,  to  form  our- 
selves into  a  society,  to  be  governed  by  the  following 

CONSTITUTION. 
.     ARTICLE  I. 

This  Society  shall  be  called  the  AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY 
ART.  II. 

The  object  of  this  Society  is  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
United  States.  While  it  admits  that  each  State  in  which  slavery 
exists,  has,  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  exclusive  right 


to  legislate  in  regard  to  its  abolition  in  said  State,  it  shall  aim  to  con- 
vince all  our  fellow-citizens,  by  arguments  addressed  to  their  under- 
standings and  consciences,  that  slave-holding  is  a  heinous  crime  in  the 
eight  of  God,  and  that  the  duty,  safety,  and  best  interests  of  all  con- 
cerned, require  its  immediate  abandonment,  without  expatriation.  Ttu 
Society  will  also  endeavour,  in  a  constitutional  way,  to  influence  Con« 
gress  to  put  an  end  to  the  domestic  slave-trade,  and  to  abolish  slavery 
in  all  those  portions  of  our  common  country  which  come  under  its 
control,  especially  in  the  District  of  Columbia, — and  likewise  to  pre- 
vent the  extension  of  it  to  any  state  that  may  be  hereafter  admitted 
to  the  Union. 

ART.  III. 

This  Society  shall  aim  to  elevate  the  character  and  condition  of  the 
people  of  color,  by  encouraging  their  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious 
improvement,  and  by  removing  public  prejudice,  that  thus  they  may, 
according  to  their  intellectual  and  moral  worth,  share  an  equality  with 
the  whites,  of  civil  and  religious  privileges ;  but  this  Society  will 
never,  in  any  way,  countenance  the  oppressed  in  vindicating  their 
lights  by  resorting  to  physical  force. 

ART.  IV. 

Any  person  who  consents  to  the  principles  of  this  Constitution, 
who  contributes  to  the  funds  of  this  Society,  and  is  not  a  slaveholder, 
may  be  a  member  of  this  Society,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  the 
meetings. 

ART.  V. 

The  officers  of  this  Society  shall  be  a  President,  Vice  Presidents, 
a  Recording  Secretary,  Corresponding  Secretaries,  a  Treasurer,  and 
a  Board  of  Managers,  composed  of  the  above,  and  not  less  than  ten 
other  members  of  the  Society.  They  shall  be  annually  elected  by  the 
members  of  the  Society,  and  five  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

ART.  VI. 

The  Board  of  Managers  shall  annually  elect  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee, to  consist  of  not  less  than  five,  nor  more  than  twelve  members, 
which  shall  be  located  in  New- York,  who  shall  have  power  to  enact 
their  own  by-laws,  fill  any  vacancy  in  their  body,  and  in  the  offices 
of  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  employ  agents,  determine  what  compen- 
sation shall  be  paid  to  agents,  and  to  the  Corresponding  Secretaries, 
direct  the  Treasurer  in  the  application  of  all  moneys,  and  call  special 
meetings  of  the  Society.  They  shall  make  arrangements  for  all  meet- 
ings of  the  Society,  make  an  annual  written  report  of  their  doings, 
the  income,  expenditures,  and  funds  of  the  Society,  and  shall  hold 
stated  meetings,  and  adopt  the  most  energetic  measures  in  their  power 
to  advance  the  objects  of  the  Society. 


ART.  VII. 

The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meeting  of  the  Society,  or  in  his 
absence  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents,  or,  in  their  absence,  a  President 
pro  tern.  The  Corresponding  Secretaries  shall  conduct  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  Society.  The  Recording  Secretary  shall  notify  all  meet- 
ings of  the  Society,  and  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  shall  keep 
records  of  the  same  in  separate  books.  The  Treasurer  shall  collect 
the  subscriptions,  make  payments  at  the  direction  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  present  a  written  and  audited  account  to  accompany 
the  annual  report. 

ART.  VIII. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  shall  be  held  each  year  at  such 
time  and  place  as  the  Executive  Committee  may  direct,  when  the  ac- 
counts of  the  Treasurer  shall  be  presented,  the  annual  report  read, 
appropriate  addresses  delivered,  the  Officers  chosen,  and  such  other 
business  transacted  as  shall  be  deemed  expedient  A  special  meeting 
shall  always  be  held  on  the  Tuesday  immediately  preceding  the  second 
Thursday  in  May,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M., 
provided  the  annual  meeting  be  not  held  there  at  that  time. 

ART.  IX. 

Any  Anti-Slavery  Society,  or  association,  founded  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples, may  become  auxiliary  to  this  Society,  and  entitled  to  be  repre- 
sented at  its  meetings.  The  Officers  of  each  Auxiliary  Society  shall 
be  ex-officio  members  of  the  Parent  Institution 

ART.  X. 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended,  at  any  annual  meeting  of  the 
Society,  by  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of  the  members  present,  provided  the 
amendments  proposed  have  been  previously  submitted,  in  writing,  to 
the  Executive  Committee, 


6 
DECLARATION 

Of  the  Anti-Slavery,  Convention,  assembled  at  Philadelphia, 
December  4,  1833. 

The  Convention,  assembled  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  to  organise 
a  National  Anti-Slavery  Society,  promptly  seize  the  opportunity  to 
promulgate  the  following  DECLARATION  OF  SENTIMENTS, 
as  cherished  by  them  in  relation  to  the  enslavement  of  one-sixth  por- 
tioniof  the  American  people. 

More  than  fifty-seven  years  have  elapsed  since  a  band  of  patriots 
convened  in  this  place,  to  devise  measures  for  the  deliverance  of  this 
country  from  a  foreign  yoke.  The  corner  stone  upon  which  they 
founded  the  TEMPLE  OF  FREEDOM  was  broadly  this — "  that  all  men  are 
created  equal ;  and  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator,  with  certain 
inalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  are  life,  LIBERTY,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness."  At  the  sound  of  their  trumpet-call  three  mil- 
lions of  people  rose  up  as  from  the  sleep  of  death,  and  rushed  to  the 
Strife  of  blood  ;  deeming  it  more  glorious  to  die  instantly  as  freeman, 
than  desirable  to  live  one  hour  as  slaves.  They  were  few  in  number — 
poor  in  resources  ;  but  the  honest  conviction  that  TRUTH,  JUSTICE  and 
RIGHT,  were  on  their  side,  made  them  invincible. 

We  have  met  together  for  the  achievement  of  an  enterprise,  without 
which  that  of  our  fathers  is  incomplete  ;  and  which,  for  its  magnitude, 
solemnity,  and  probable  results  upon  the  destiny  of  the  world,  as  far 
transcends  theirs  as  moral  truth  does  physical  force. 

In  purity  of  motive,  in  earnestnees  of  zeal,  in  decision  of  purpose, 
in  intrepidity  of  action,  in  steadfastness  of  faith,  in  sincerity  of  spirit, 
we  would  not  be  inferior  to  them. 

Their  principles  led  them  to  wage  war  against  their  oppressors,  and 
to  spill  human  blood  like  water,  in  order  to  be  free.  Ours  forbid  the 
doing  of  evil  that  good  may  come,  and  lead  us  to  reject,  and  to  entreat 
the  oppressed  to  reject,  the  use  of  all  carnal  weapons  for  deliverance 
from  bondage;  relying  solely  upon  those  which  are  spiritual,  and 
mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds. 

Their  measures  were  physical  resistance — the  marshalling  in  arms — 
the  hostile  array — the  mortal  encounter.  Ours  shall  be  such  as  only 
the  opposition  of  moral  purity  to  moral  corruption — the  destruction  of 
error  by  the  potency  of  truth — the  overthrow  of  prejudice  by  the  power 
of  love — and  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  the  spirit  of  repentance. 

Their  grievances,  great  as  they  were,  were  trifling  in  comparison 
with  the  wrongs  and  sufferings  of  those  for  whom  we  plead.  Our 
fathers  were  never  slaves — never  bought  and  sold  like  cattle — never 
shut  out  from  the  light  of  knowledge  and  religion — never  subjected  to 
the  lash  of  brutal  task-masters. 

But  those  for  whose  emancipation  we  are  striving — constituting  at 
the  present  time  at  least  one-sixth  part  of  our  countrymen, — aro  recog- 
nized by  the  law,  and  treated  by  their  fellow  beings,  as  marketable 
commodities,  as  goods  and  chattels,  as  brute  beasts ;  are  plundered 
daily  of  the  fruits  of  their  toil  without  redress  ;  really  enjoying  no  con- 
stitutional nor  legal  protection  from  licentious  and  murderous  outrages 


opon  their  persons ;  are  ruthlessly  torn  asunder — the  tender  babe  from 
the  arms  ot  its  frantic  mother — the  heart-broken  wife  from  her  weep- 
ing husband — at  the  caprice  or  pleasure  of  irresponsible  tyrants.  For 
the  crime  of  having  a  dark  complexion,  they  suffer  the  pan<*s  of 
hunger,  the  infliction  of  stripes,  and  the  ignominy  of  brutal  servitude. 
They  are  kept  in  heathenish  darkness  by  laws  expressly  enacted  to 
make  their  instruction  a  criminal  offence. 

These  are  the  prominent  circumslances  in  the  condition  of  more  than 
two  millions  of  our  people,  the  proof  of  which  may  be  found  in  thou- 
sands of  indisputable  facts,  and  in  the  laws  of  the  slaveholding  states. 

Hence  wo  maintain, — that  in  view  of  the  civil  and  religious  privi- 
le^es  of  this  nation,  the  guilt  of  its  oppression  is  unequalled  by  any 
other  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  and,  therefore, 

That  it  is  bound  to  repent  instantly,  to  undo  the  heavy  burden,  to 
break  every  yoke,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free. 

We  further  maintain, — that  no  man  has  a  right  to  enslave  or  irn- 
hrute  his  brother — to  hold  or  acknowledge  him,  for  one  moment,  as  a 
piece  of  merchandise — to  keep  back  his  hire  by  fraud — or  to  brutalize 
his  mind  by  denying  him  the  means  of  intellectual,  social,  and  moral 
improvement. 

The  right  to  enjoy  liberty  is  inalienable.  To  invade  it,  is  to  usurp 
the  prerogative  of  Jehovah.  Every  man  has  a  right  to  his  own  body — 
to  the  products  of  his  own  labor — to  the  protection  of  law,  and  to  the 
common  advantages  of  society.  It  is  piracy  to  buy  or  steal  a  native 
African,  and  subject  him  to  servitude.  Surely  the  sin  is  as  great  to 
enslave  an  AMERICAN  as  an  AFRICAN. 

Therefore  we  believe  and  affirm — That  there  is  no  difference,  in 
principle,  between  the  African  slave  trade  and  American  slavery: 

That  every  American  citizen  who  retains  a  human  being  in  in- 
voluntary bondage  as  his  property,  is  [according  to  scripture*]  a  MAN 

STEALER  : 

That  the  slaves  ought  instantly  to  be  set  free,  and  brought  under  the 
protection  of  law  : 

That  if  they  had  lived  from  the  time  of  Pharoah  down  to  the  present 
period,  and  had  been  entailed  through  successive  generations,  their 
right  to  be  free  could  never  have  been  alienated,  but  their  claims  would 
have  constantly  risen  in  solemnity : 

That  all  those  laws  which  are  now  in  force,  admitting  the  right  of 
slavery,  are  therefore  before  God  utterly  null  and  void  ;  being  an  auda- 
cious usurpation  of  the  Divine  prerogative,  a  daring  infringement  on 
the  law  of  nature,  a  base  overthrow  of the  very  foundations  of  the  social 
compact,  a  complete  extinction  of  all  the  relations,  endearments,  and 
obligations  of  mankind,  and  a  presumptuous  transgression  of  all  the 
holy  commandments — and  that  therefore  they  ought  instantly  to  be 
abrogated. 

We  further  believe  and  affirm — That  all  persons  of  color  who  possess 
the  qualifications  which  are  demanded  of  others,  ought  to  be  admitted 
forthwith  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  same  privileges,  and  the  exercise  of 
the  same  prerogatives,  as  others  ;  and  that  the  paths  of  preferment,  of 

*  Ex.  xzi.  16. 


8 

wealth,  and  of  intelligence,  should  be  opened  as  widely  to  them  as  to 
persons  of  a  white  complexion. 

We  maintain  that  no  compensation  should  be  given  to  the  planters 
emancipating  their  slaves, 

Because  it  would  be  a  surrender  of  the  great  fundamental  principle, 
that  man  cannot  hold  property  in  man ; 

Because  SLAVERY  is  A  CRIME,  AND  THEREFORE  is  NOT  AN  ARTICLE 

TO    BE    SOLD  ; 

Because  the  holders  of  slaves  are  not  the  just  proprietors  of  what, 
they  claim ;  freeing  the  slaves  is  not  depriving  them  of  property,  but 
restoring  it  to  its  rightful  owners  ;  it  is  not  wronging  the  master,  but 
righting  the  slave — restoring  him  to  himself; 

Because  immediate  and  general  emancipation  would  only  destroy 
nominal,  not  real  property ;  it  would  not  amputate  a  limb  or  break  a 
bone  of  the  slaves,  but  by  infusing  motives  into  their  breasts,  would 
make  them  doubly  valuable  to  the  masters  as  free  laborers;  and 

Because,  if  compensation  is  to  be  given  at  all,  it  should  be  given  to 
the  outraged  and  guiltless  slaves,  and  not  to  those  who  have  plundered 
and  abused  them. 

We  regard  as  delusive,  cruel,  and  dangerous,  any  scheme  of  expa- 
triation which  pretends  to  aid,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves,  or  to  be  a  substitute  fo>-  the  immediate  and 
total  abolition  of  slavery. 

We  fully  and  unanimously  recognize  the  sovereignty  of  each  state, 
to  legislate  exclusively  on  the  subject  of  the  slavery  which  is  tolerated 
within  its  limits ;  we  concede  that  Congress,  under  the  present  national 
compact,  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  any  of  the  slave  states,  in  rela- 
tion to  this  momentous  subject : 

But  we  maintain  that  Congress  has  a  right,  and  is  solemnly  bound, 
to  suppress  the  domestic  slave  trade  between  the  several  states,  and  to 
abolish  slavery  in  those  portions  of  our  territory  which  the  Constitu- 
tion has  placed  under  its  exclusive  jurisdiction. 

We  also  maintain  that  there  are,  at  the  present  time,  the  highest 
»  upon  the  people  of  the  free  states,  to  remove  slavery 


by  moral  and  political  action,  as  prescribed  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  now  living  under  a  pledge  of  their  tremen- 
dous physical  force,  to  fasten  the  galling  fetters  of  tyranny  upon  the 
limbs  of  millions  in  the  southern  states  ;  they  are  liable  to  be  called  at 
any  moment  to  suppress  a  general  insurrection  of  the  slaves ;  they 
authorize  the  slave  owner  to  vote  on  three-fifths  of  his  slaves  as  pro- 
perty, and  thus  enable  him  to  perpetuate  his  oppression ;  they  support 
a  standing  army  at  the  south  for  its  protection ;  and  they  seize  the 
slave  who  has  escaped  into  their  territories,  and  send  him  back  to  be 
tortured  by  an  enraged  master  or  a  brutal  driver.  This  relation  to 
slavery  is  criminal  and  full  of  danger:  IT  MUST  BE  BROKEN  up. 

These  are  our  views  and  principles — these  our  designs  and  mea- 
sures. With  entire  confidence  in  the  overruling  justice  of  God,  we 
plant  ourselves  upon  the  Declaration  of  our  Independence  and  the 
truths  of  divine  revelation  as  upon  the  Everlasting  Rock. 

We  shall  organize  Anti-Slavery  Societies,  if  possible,  in  every  city, 
town  and  village,  in  our  land. 


We  shall  send  forth  agents  to  lift  up  the  voice  of  remonstrance,  e* 
warning,  of  entreaty,  and  rebuke. 

We  shall  circulate,  unsparingly  and  extensively,  anti-slavery  trcete 
and  periodicals. 

We  snail  enlist  the  pulpit  and  the  press  in  the  cause  of  the  suflerhJfij 
and  the  dumb. 

We  shall  aim  at  a  purification  of  the  churches  from  all  participation 
in  the  guilt  of  slavery. 

We  shall  encourage  the  labor  of  freemen  rather  than  that  of  slaves, 
by  giving  a  preference  to  their  productions :  and 

We  shall  spare  no  exertions  nor  means  to  bring  the  whole  nation 
to  speedy  repentance. 

Our  trust  for  victory  is  solely  in  God.  We.  may  be  personally  d^ 
feated,  but  our  principles  never.  TRUTH,  JUSTICE,  REASON,  HU- 
MANITY, must  and  will  gloriously  triumph.  Already  a  host  is  coming 
up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty,  and  the  prospect  before 
us  is  full  of  encouragement. 

Submitting  this  DECLARATION  to  the  candid  examination  of  the 
people  of  this  country,  and  of  the  friends  of  liberty  throughout  the 
world,  we  hereby  affix  our  signatures  to  it ;  pledging  ourselves  that, 
under  the  guidance  and  by  the  help  of  Almighty  God  we  will  do  all 
that  in  us  fies,  consistently  with  this  Declaration  of  our  principles,  to 
overthrow  the  most  execrable  system  of  slavery  that  has  ever  bee*> 
witnessed  upon  earth — to  deliver  our  land  from  its  deadliest  curse — to 
wipe  out  the  foulest  stain  which  rests  npon  our  national  escutcheon — 
and  to  secure  to  the  colored  population  of  the  United  States  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  which  belong  to  them  as  men,  and  as  American* 
— come  what  may  to  our  persons,  pur  interests,  or  our  reputation — 
whether  we  live  to  witness  the  triumph  of  LIBERTY,  JUSTICE,  and 
HUMANITY,  or  fterish  untimely  as  martyrs  in  this  great,  benevolent, 
and  holy  cause. 

Done  at  Philadelphia,  the  sixth  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1833. 


10 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

In  behalf  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  we  solicit  the  candid 
attention  of  the  public  to  the  following  declaration  of  our  principles  and 
objects.  Were  the  charges  which  are  brought  against  us  made  only 
by  individuals  who  are  interested  in  the  continuance  of  Slavery,  and  by 
auch  as  are  influenced  solely  by  unworthy  motives,  this  address  would 
be  unnecessary ;  but  there  are  those  who  merit  and  possess  our  esteem, 
who  would  not  voluntarily  do  us  injustice,  and  who  have  bee:;  led  by 
gross  misrepresentations  to  believe  that  we  are  pursuing  measures  at 
variance  not  only  with  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South,  but  with 
the  precepts  of  humanity  and  religion.  To  such  we  offer  the  following 
explanations  and  assurances. 

1st.  We  hold  that  Congress  has  no  more  right  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  Southern  States  than  in  the  French  West  India  Islands.  Of 
course  we  desire  no  national  legislation  on  the  subject. 

2d.  We  hold  that  Slavery  can  only  be  lawfully  abolished  by  the  Legisla- 
tures of  the  several  states  in  which  it  prevails,  and  that  the  exercise  of  any 
other  than  moral  influence,  to  induce  such  abolition,  is  unconstitutional. 

3d.  We  believe  that  Congress  has  the  same  right  to  abolish  Slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  that  the  State  governments  have  within 
their  respective  jurisdictions,  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  efface  so  foul 
a  blot  from  the  national  escutcheon. 

4th.  We  believe  that  American  citizens  have  the  right  to  express 
and  publish  their  opinions  of  the  Constitutions,  Laws,  and  Institutions 
of  any  and  every  State  and  Nation  under  Heaven ;  and  we  mean 
never  to  surrender  the  liberty  of  speech,  of  the  press,  or  of  conscience — 
blessings  we  have  inherited  from  our  fathers,  and  which  we  intend,  as 
far  as  we  are  able,  to  transmit  unimpaired  to  our  children. 

5th.  We  have  uniformly  deprecated  all  forcible  attempts  on  the  part  of 
the  Slaves  to  recover  their  liberty.  And  were  it  in  our  power  to  address 
them,  we  would  exhort  them  to  observe  a  quiet  and  peaceful  de- 
meanor, and  would  assure  them  that  no  insurrectionary  movement  on 
their  part,  would  receive  from  us  the  slightest  aid  or  countenance. 

6th.  We  would  deplore  any  servile  insurrection,  both  on  account  of 
the  calamities  which  would  attend  it,  and  on  account  of  the  occasion 
which  it  might  furnish  of  increased  severity  and  oppression. 


11 

7th.  We  are  charged  with  sending  incendiary  publications  to  tne 
South.  If  by  the  term  incendiary  is  meant  publications  containing 
arguments  and  facts  to  prove  Slavery  to  be  a  moral  and  political  evil, 
and  that  duty  and  policy  require  its  immediate  abolition,  the  charge  is 
true.  But  if  this  term  is  used  to  imply  publications  encouraging  insur- 
rection, and  designed  to  excite  the  Slaves  to  break  their  fetters,  the 
charge  is  utterly  uud  unequivocally  false.  We  beg  our  fellow-citizens 
to  notice,  that  this  charge  is  made  without  proof,  and  by  many  who 
confess  that  they  have  never  read  our  publications,  and  that  those  who 
make  it,  offer  to  the  publir.  no  evidence  from  our  writings  in  support  of  ft. 

8th.  We  are  accused  of  sending  our  publications  to  the  Slaves,  and 
it  is  asserted  that  their  tendency  is  to  excite  insurrections.  Both 
the  charges  are  false.  These  publications  are  not  intended  for  the 
Slaves  ;  and  were  they  able  to  read  them,  they  would  find  in  them  no 
encouragement  to  insurrection. 

9th.  We  are  accused  of  employing  Agents  in  the  Slave  States  to 
distribute  our  publications.  We  have  never  had  one  such  Agent. 
We  have  sert,  no  packages  of  our  papers  to  any  person  in  those  States 
for  distribution,  except  to  five  respectable  resident,  citizens,  at  their 
own  request  But  we  have  sent,  by  mail,  single  papers  addressed  to 
public  officers,  editors  of  newspapers,  clergymen,  and  others.  If,  there- 
fore, our  object  is  to  excite  the  Slaves  to  insurrection,  the  MASTERS 
are  our  Agents! 

10th.  We  believe  Slavery  to  be  sinful,  injurious  to  this,  and  to  every 
other  country  in  which  it  prevails ;  we  believe  immediate  emancipation 
to  be  the  duty  of  every  slaveholder,  and  that  the  immediate  abolition 
of  slavery,  by  those  who  have  the  right  to  abolish  it,  would  be  safe  and 
wise.  These  opinions  we  have  freely  expressed,  and  we  certainly 
have  no  intention  to  refrain  from  expressing  them  in  future,  and  urging 
them  upon  the  consciences  and  hearts  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  hold 
slaves  or  apologize  for  slavery. 

llth.  We  believe  that  the  education  of  the  poor  is  required  by  duty, 
and  by  a  regard  for  the  permanancy  of  our  republican  institutions. 
There  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  our  fellow-citizens, 
even  in  the  free  States,  sunk  in  abject  poverty,  and  who  on  account  of 
their  complexion  are  virtually  kept  in  ignorance,  and  whose  instruction 
in  certain  cases  is  actually  prohibited  by  law !  We  are  anxious  to 
protect  the  rights,  and  to  promote  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  the  colored 
portion  of  our  population,  and  on  this  account  we  have  been  charged 
with  a  design  to  encourage  intermarriages  between  the  whites  nu« 


12 

blacks.  This  charge  has  been  repeatedly,  and  is  now  again  denied ; 
while  we  repeat  that  the  tendency  of  our  sentiments  is  to  put  an  end 
to  the  criminal  amalgamation  that  prevails  wherever  slavery  exists. 

12th.  We  are  accused  of  acts  that  tend  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
and  even  of  wishing  to  dissolve  it.  We  have  never  "  calculated  the 
ralue  of  the  Union,"  because  we  believed  it  to  be  inestimable ;  and 
that  the  abolition  of  slavery  will  remove  the  chief  dangei  uf  iu;  dissolu- 
tion ;  and  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  we  cherish,  and  will  endeavor 
to  preserve  the  constitution,  is,  that  it  restrains  Congress  from  making 
anj  law  "abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press." 

Such,  fellow-citizens,  are  our  principles.  Are  they  unworthy  of 
Republicans  and  of  Christians  ?  Or  are  they  in  truth  so  atrocious, 
that  in  order  to  prevent  their  diffusion,  you  are  yourselves  willing  to 
surrender,  at  the  dictation  of  others,  the  invaluable  privilege  of  free 
discussion,  the  very  birthright  of  Americans  ?  Will  you,  in  order  that 
the  abominations  of  slavery  may  be  concealed  from  public  view,  and 
that  the  capital  of  your  Republic  may  continue  to  be,  at;  it  now  is, 
fender  the  sanction  of  Congress,  the  great  slave  mart  of  the  American 
continent,  consent  that  the  general  government  in  acknowledged 
defiance  of  the  Constitution  and  laws,  shall  appoint,  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  your  land,  ten  thousand  censors  of  the  press, 
each  of  whom  shall  have  the  right  to  inspect  every  document  you  may 
commit  to  the  Post  Office,  and  to  suppress  every  pamphlet  and  news- 
paper, whether  religious  or  political,  which  in  his  sovereign  pleasure  he 
hiay  adjudge  to  contain  an  incendiary  article  ?  Surely  we  need  not 
Vemind  you,  that  if  you  submit  to  such  an  encroachment  on  your  liber- 
ties, the  days  of  our  Republic  are  numbered,  and  that  although  aboli- 
tionists may  be  the  first,  they  will  not  be  the  last  victims  offered  at  the 
•hrine  of  arbitrary  power. 

ARTHUR  TAPPAN,  President. 

JOHN  RANKIN,  Treasurer. 

WILLIAM  JAY,  Sec'n/  o/  Foreign  Correspondence. 

ELIZUR  WRIGHT,  JR.  Sec'ry  of  Domes.  Cor. 

ABRAHAM  L.  Cox,  M.  D.,  Recording  Sec'ry. 

LEWIS  TAPPAN,  ~\ 

JOSHUA  LEAVITT,  Members  of 

SAMUEL  E.  CORNISH,        j-  the 

SIMEON  S.  JOCELTN,  E-xtmtive  Committee 

THEODORE  S.  WRIGHT.   J 
York,  September  3d,  1835. 


